Homecoming
by The Siege
Summary: It had been a year of separation and growth and inevitable change, but in the end, they were still each other's home. [nalu; canonverse]


**Homecoming**

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**notes: **just my take on nalu's reunion. i fell in love with Fairy Tail a few days ago and finished reading all 400+ chapters of the manga in like 3 days (hell on my school work but _hey_ i was addicted, my tumblr can testify). got itching to write this as soon as i saw sexy natsu with long hair grinning happily at lucy, seriously the things that smile does to me, oh man. nalu is so _cute_! man i wish they were real. anyway, enjoy! if you've read the chapter in question, you'll recognize some of the content.

**disclaimer:** i don't own Fairy Tail, but man what i would give to...so i could satisfy my own fangirly romantic-as-hell desires muahaha COUGH NALUGALEGRUVIA4EVER COUGH nor do i own the cover pic, that's by rboz who is an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G FT fanartist like seriously, so amazing. check her stuff out on tumblr.

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The stranger, covered in a dark cloak, stood tall in the center of the arena. Power rolled off of his clothed body in almost visible waves.

He tensed and Lucy, alarmed, shouted to her boss, "Quick, get everyone out of here!"

But it was too late.

A scorching heat wave emanated from the man, knocking out the Skull Millione and Chrisack guild members in front of him and melting the fabric off the bodies of the spectators.

Lucy fought against the unrelenting heat, her eyes stinging from the heat even though they were shut, and tried to hold her rapidly dissolving clothes together. Sweat beaded at her hairline and slid down her face.

The air around the lone man cleared after a few moments and Lucy's eyes widened.

No. It couldn't be.

"Natsu...?"

"Hi Lucy!"

With a gasp, Lucy whirled around and cried, "Happy!"

With a wide smile, the floating blue cat explained, "Natsu wanted to see what this year's champions were made of but...looks like they've all been flattened already."

The two turned their attention back to the arena, where Natsu was getting out of control and looking for a good fight. "Someone, anyone, bring it on! I"m getting fired up!"

He unleashed his fire on the frantic mages rushing to stop him, knocking them all out with one blow.

"Natsu!" Lucy yelled.

The stadium was literally melting and as Lucy turned back to Happy with a glare, the Exceed shrugged sheepishly and said, "He still needs to work on his control."

"Ya think!?"

There were frightened cries of "M-monster!" and "Somebody stop him!" all around. Lucy sighed and would have smcked a hand over her forehead if she wasn't practically naked.

Soon, everyone was gone, aside from the knocked out mages on the ground.

With an innocent smile, Happy flew up and called, "Natsu! Up here!"

He looked up up and his eyes immediately found Lucy's. A huge grin spread across his face. "Yo Lucy! It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Tears burned at the corners of her eyes, but she forced herself not to cry.

"And the first thing you do is burn off all my clothes?" Lucy retorted jokingly with a fierce blush as she tried to cover herself but her happiness was palpable. He was back.

Natsu was _back_.

"Ah, sorry!" He whipped off his cloak and, landing right before her in one strong leap, settled the fabric lightly over her body, making sure to tie it securely in the front.

Lucy looked up and was startled to find that he had grown quite a bit taller than her, where they had previously been about the same height. His fluffy pink hair had grown long—_but he still looks handsome_, she admitted in the back of her mind where she could pretend she never thought it—and it tickled her cheeks as he slouched over, meticulously fastening the cloak together. His hands were steady and sure and a quick glance told Lucy that they had also grown bigger and more calloused. They were the hands of a man.

Natsu was a man now.

The realization struck her frozen. Though the wide grin on his face was the same, there was a new strength in his eyes and a new confidence in his shoulders. The power that flowed from him was scorching and would have been overwhelming if it wasn't so familiar.

She reached forward suddenly and caught him in a hug, making him stumble back in surprise. "Whoa! Careful, Lucy!"

She squeezed him tighter and the tears leaked unwillingly from her closed eyes. "I missed you."

His arms rose and held her gently but firmly, lined with new sinew and coiled muscle. He enveloped her in his warmth as she buried her face in his chest. "I missed you too."

Happy flew over and squirmed in between the two mages. "Hey, hey! I missed Lucy the most!"

With a tearful laugh, Lucy squeezed the cat tightly against her chest and looked up at her favorite pink-haired dragon slayer.

"We're back, Lucy," he said cheerfully.

She smiled with pure, unadulterated happiness and laughed, "Welcome back."

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© Copyright 2015 by The Siege


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